‘We won’t block world leaders’

Taking down their tweets limits public debate, says Twitter

Washington: Twitter announced it would not block the accounts of world leaders even if their statements are “controversial”, citing a need to promote a “public conversation” on political issues.

The announcement came just days after a tweet from President Donald Trump hinting at the use of US nuclear weapons sparked criticism that the social network was allowing threats of violence.

“Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation.

“Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on

our society,” the Californiabased company said in a blog post.

“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial tweets would hide impor tant information people should be able to see and debate.

“It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.”

Twitter made no specific reference to Trump or his tweet, which said he has a “nuclear button” which is “bigger and more powerful” than that of North Korea’s.

Some activists said Twitter should have banned Trump and one group projected images on the company’s headquarters with a message “@ jack is #complicit”, a reference to chief executive Jack Dorsey and “Ban @realDonaldTrump”. The group, called Resistance SF, accused Dorsey of “endangering the world” and violating its own rules by not banning Trump.

Friday’s announcement comes less than a month after Twitter began enforcing rules to filter out “hateful” and “abusive” content, including messages which promote or glorify violence.

However, Friday’s statement left open the possibility Twitter may remove specific tweets from political leaders that violate its policies.

“We review tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them,” the statement said.

Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation. Twitter